John Kirsch was known for wearing his floral smock during his artistic process. (Courtesy of Cherie Emmrich)

"I just couldn't let it go."

St. Louis resident Charles Leigh couldn't stop thinking about it.

It all started with the painting that was given to him by a friend. It was of Long's Peak and Mills Lake, painted by artist John Kirsch at his studio on High Drive, and was a scene that was very familiar to the Leigh's.

"We average about every other year [visiting Estes]," Leigh said. "We have been there so many times we don't have to plan anymore; we just know where we want to go."

So when Leigh's friend Cherie Emmrich offered him a Kirsch painting of one of his favorite places in the world, he jumped at the chance. It was then he discovered that Emmrich had a lot more than one Kirsch painting, but more than a dozen.

John Kirsch painted thousands of canvases in his studio each year. This is a Kirsch painting of his studio off of High Drive. (Courtesy of Cherie Emmrich)

Emmrich, 70, also from St. Louis, grew up visiting Estes Park with her family. Her parents just happened to meet John Kirsch and his wife Frances, where they quickly became customers of his artwork and friends of the family.

When Emmrich's parents passed away, as an only child, she inherited all their possessions, including all the Kirsch artwork they had accumulated over the many years of visiting Estes and the Kirsch's.

"We went out to Estes every single year for so many years," Emmrich said. "I inherited all the paintings [my family bought] and there was just too many to keep."

She sold some at an estate sale, and decided to gift one to the Leigh's, and expressed a desire to them to find someone who would appreciate the Kirsch paintings she still had when the time comes to give them up.

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This got Charles Leigh on the hunt for Kirsch family members to connect them with Emmrich. After a few of weeks that included about a dozen phone calls, leads and dead ends, Leigh was contacted by John Kirsch's grandson Tom, who was very interested in the paintings Emmrich had, if and when she wants to release them.

Tom and his wife Mary Beth are currently staying at the old Kirsch art studio; a place Tom and his brother John remember visiting as kids. Kirsch painted thousands of canvases in that space before his death in 1977.

"My memories of John are when we would come out here for vacation," Mary Beth said. "He would be painting all day long [seven days a week] but when 5 o'clock rolled around it was social time for him."

Tom said his grandparents were very open to everyone, and at the same time were extremely hard workers, having lost everything when they immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Before that, he fought in World War I for his home nation, Austria.

"[My grandfather] actually became a POW of the Russians during the war," John said. "When they found out he was an artist, he ended up having to give these two kids art lessons and they turned out to be Czar Nicholas's children."

Emmrich has a number of Kirsch paintings, inherited from her parents who were big fans and friends of the artist. (Courtesy of Cherie Emmrich)

Nicholas II was the last emperor of Russia, and was forced to abdicate from his throne in 1917. Kirsch would eventually attempt an escape from the prison camp with an artist friend. The friend didn't survive the machine gun fire as they tried to navigate through a barbwire fence.

After escaping the prisoner of war camp, broke after losing his wealth due to the war, he made his fortunes back by smuggling cigarettes from Austria into Czechoslovakia, before immigrating to America and the Rocky Mountains.

Each day of the week, John Kirsch would be in his studio, wearing his bright floral painting smock, creating beauty out of a blank canvas and capturing the majestic colors of the Colorado Rockies.

John Kirsch once said that "the colors and terrain in Rocky Mountain National Park make the world's most beautiful and desirable mountain paintings." (Courtesy of Cherie Emmrich)

"Painting was his passion," Tom said. "He could create something with his hands and he loved to do it."

Kirsch's grandson John, who lives in Estes Park and owns Kirsch Painting, said it is amazing to him — and a point of pride — that there are so many different buildings he will walk into and there will be a Kirsch painting hung up.

Both Tom and John have fond memories of their grandfather, in his studio during the summers and at his winter home in Wisconsin. They still have a lot of his artwork today, hoping to eventually sell approximately 300 of his pieces to people who will appreciate his art.

From Austria to the Rockies and Wisconsin, John Kirsch lived quite a life and painted quite the scenery. His legacy stretches from Long's Peak to the St. Louis Arch and beyond.

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